NEW YORK (Reuters) – Apple Inc denied it is tracking the movements of its iPhone customers, but said it will provide a software update that stores less location information on phones in response to public outcry over privacy issues.

“Apple is not tracking the location of your iPhone,” the company said in a statement on Wednesday. “Apple has never done so and has no plans to ever do so.”

Still, the company said its iPhones keep “a database of Wi-Fi hotspots and cell towers around your current locations … to help your iPhone rapidly and accurately calculate its location when requested.”

Some of that location information is stored on each iPhone, and is backed up in iTunes, meaning that it would be possible for someone with access to a person’s computer to retrieve information about their movements.

In response, Apple plans to release a software update that would cut the size of the wireless hotspot location database stored on its iPhones, and stop backing up that information. The software will be released in the next few weeks, it said.

Concerns about tracking came to a head earlier this month when two computer programmers presented research showing the iPhone was logging locations. Privacy advocates have sharply criticized Apple, while the Federal Communications Commission and U.S. Sen. Al Franken have asked the company to explain its policy.

“I would expect there are folks who would be interested in looking at this,” said Lydia Parnes, an attorney with Wilson Sonsini, Goodrich and Rosati and a former director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “But just saying information is collected doesn’t automatically mean that it’s a problem. It’s all about what consumers understand.”

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Netflix Inc (NFLX.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), accustomed to delivering stunning growth, failed to wow investors as it issued an earnings outlook that fell short of expectations.

Shares of Netflix fell 5 percent after its report, a sign that anything less than perfect performance will not suffice for a company whose stock has nearly tripled over the past year

The movie rental service’s first quarter earnings and revenue surpassed expectations — and it built up its subscriber base to more than 23 million customers — but it was the earnings outlook that caught the attention of investors.

“Netflix is very much a momentum stock,” said Brett Harriss, an analyst with Gabelli & Co. “We didn’t get a blockbuster quarter and guidance was a little light.”

Specifically, Netflix said it would likely earn between 93 cents and $1.15 a share in the second quarter, compared with analyst expectations of $1.19 a share.

One concern analysts pointed to was Netflix’s international business, considered critical to its growth over the next several years. So far, it has entered Canada, where it now has just over 800,000 subscribers after seven months of business.

But expansion in Canada — and plans to move into other markets — is coming at a cost. The company expects to post a $50 to $70 million operating loss in its international business during the second half of the year, steeper than the $50 million it previously projected.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Tenet Healthcare Corp’s (THC.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) board rejected the latest $3.3 billion offer from Community Health Systems (CYH.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), saying the price “grossly undervalues the company.”

After consultations with advisors, Tenet said on Friday, it had determined that the revised bid “not in the best interest of Tenet or its shareholders,” leaving in doubt the outcome of a takeover battle that began last November.

Community Health, the second-largest U.S. hospital chain, sweetened its hostile bid earlier this month, changing its $6 per share offer to all cash from $1 in Community Health stock and $5 in cash. The move was meant to protect Tenet shareholders from any risk associated with the stock of Community Health, which is the subject of a U.S. government probe into billing practices.

In rejecting the bid, Tenet Chief Executive Trevor Fetter said that since the initial offer in November his company “has demonstrated improving business trends, including the best fourth quarter results in seven years. In addition, industry fundamentals are improving, and Tenet’s outlook for 2011 and longer-term financial performance reflects strong growth.”

Those prospects were not reflected in the Community Health bid, he said.

Community Health said it was disappointed by the decision. “We remain ready to engage in constructive discussions to move this transaction forward. We would welcome the opportunity to review additional information Tenet can provide and are prepared to recognize any additional value it can demonstrate,” it said.

Community Health has argued the combination would gain greater operating efficiencies and leverage for negotiating with insurers and recruiting physicians, providing a compelling strategic rationale for the transaction. The combined companies would have 176 hospitals in 30 states and an estimated revenue of $21.9 billion.

NEW YORK, April 15 (Reuters) – Three months after Oprah Winfrey’s cable television channel premiered in the United States, preparations are underway to introduce the network to international audiences.

Executives from Discovery Communications Inc (DISCA.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), a co-owner of the network, said early discussions have been held with distributors in foreign markets, adding that they expected talks to turn more serious later in the year.

“We’re confident there are markets it will do well in,” Mark Hollinger, who heads up Discovery’s international business, said at a presentation on Friday. “We’re confident there will be an international launch of the channel.”

Hollinger declined to identify countries in the expansion plan. Other than the United States, the Oprah Winfrey Network can currently be seen only in Canada. [ID:nN14158184]

“We’ve said, ‘Let’s focus on the U.S. for now; we’ll tend to this a little later this year,’” Hollinger said.

A joint venture between Discovery and Oprah Winfrey’s production company, OWN launched in the United States early this year as a largely female-oriented network with a combination of lifestyle, advice and uplifting shows. Ratings have been mixed so far.

But Winfrey, regarded as the most influential woman on U.S. television, is expected to devote more energy to OWN in the coming months after the last original episode of her popular syndicated TV show, “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” airs on May 25.

NEW YORK, April 14 (Reuters) – Discovery Channel, home to a string of popular adventure and nature shows, will roll out a TV schedule next year featuring a circus family, woolly mammoths and reptile rescuers, among other oddities.

Discovery Channel, which struggled at times last season to retain viewers, has scheduled three new specials and four new series for the 2011-12 season, joining returning programs including “Storm Chasers” and “Deadliest Catch.”

Discovery will introduce its full lineup to advertisers during a presentation later on Thursday, before it begins the process of negotiating commercial rates for the upcoming season during the so-called upfront period.

TV advertising has surged in recent months on demand from the automotive, retail and telecommunications categories, providing a boost in sales for cable network owners such as Discovery Communications (DISCA.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Time Warner Inc. (TWX.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)

The result, analysts say, is that commercial rates could be up by 10 percent or more in this year’s upfront market, when cable and broadcast networks sell the bulk of their time for the next TV season. Broadcast networks NBC (CMCSA.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), CBS (CBS.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Fox (NWSA.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and ABC (DIS.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) will introduce their lineups in May.

Discovery Communications, in addition to the Discovery Channel, owns TLC, Animal Planet, Investigation Discovery, Science and Discovery Fit & Health.

It is also the owner, along with Oprah Winfrey, of the new OWN network, a largely female-oriented mixture of lifestyle, advice and uplifting shows. The network has suffered some audience ratings setbacks since its highly publicized launch in January.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Motorola Solutions Inc and China’s Huawei Technologies Co have settled a legal dispute over trade secrets, clearing the way for Motorola to complete the sale of one of its business units to Nokia Siemens Networks.

The settlement puts to rest charges by Huawei that Motorola, one of its long-standing partners, could disclose a variety of its trade secrets in selling a networks business to rival Nokia Siemens Networks.

Motorola agreed to pay an unspecified transfer fee to Huawei as part of the settlement, it said on Wednesday.

At the same time, Motorola lowered the sale price of the networks business to Nokia Siemens, a venture of Finland’s Nokia Oyj and Germany’s Siemens AG, from $1.2 billion to $975 million. That should help ensure the deal goes through by April 29, Motorola said in a filing with regulators.

The deal between Motorola and Nokia Siemens was thrown into doubt in January when Huawei filed its lawsuit, demanding that the transaction be altered to avoid infringing on intellectual property rights. At the time, Huawei said that it filed the lawsuit because Motorola, its partner since 2000, did not give it any assurance that it would not transfer Huawei information to Nokia Siemens.

Huawei had charged that due to their relationship, Motorola has information including plans for future products and technical specifications related to product performance and testing.

Motorola itself filed suit against Huawei in July alleging theft of trade secrets via former Motorola employees who gave information to Huawei’s founder.

BOSTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) – The popular Flip video camera — the top-selling camcorder in the United States last year — is getting the ax as part of a revamp at parent company Cisco Systems, CEO John Chambers said on Tuesday.

The move to kill a gadget that won rave reviews for jump-starting low-cost handheld video comes less than a week after Chambers said he had to make “tough decisions” about cutting spending on some product areas.

Cisco bought Flip in 2009 for $590 million in an acquisition spree to build a stronger consumer business. The surprise decision to shut down Flip rather than sell it underscores pressure on Chambers to whittle down Cisco’s money-losing consumer division.

Cisco spokeswoman Karen Tillman did not say why the company decided to kill the Flip business rather than sell it.

Last year Cisco sold 23 percent of all camcorders in the United States, ahead of Sony and Eastman Kodak, according to market research firm NPD Group. Those figures exclude sales by Wal-Mart and some club stores.

Cisco said it would clean out its Flip phone inventory before ending the product line. It is almost unheard of for a manufacturer to kill a top selling product in its category.

Social networking site Twitter was abuzz with tweets about the news, and “RIP Flip” was one of the day’s most discussed topics. “Too bad. I still love my Flip!” tweeted one user.

BOSTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) – Cisco Systems Inc will dump its Flip video camera division, retiring the popular brand in a first step towards reviving a company its CEO John Chambers admitted has lost its way.

The move to kill a gadget that won rave reviews for jump-starting low-cost handheld video and was the top-selling camcorder in the United States last year comes less than a week after Chambers said he had to make “tough decisions” about cutting spending on some product areas.

The surprise decision to shut down Flip rather than sell it underscores pressure on Chambers to whittle down a money-losing consumer division that also includes Scientific Atlanta set-top boxes and Linksys home routers.

Cisco bought Flip in 2009 for $590 million (362 million pounds) in an acquisition spree to build a stronger consumer business.

It will also fold its Umi home videoconference business into the more successful TelePresence arm for corporate customers.

Cisco’s descent from Internet powerhouse to muddled underperformer came to a head earlier this year, after three quarters of results that disappointed investors.

“I’m really disappointed if this is it,” said Kim Caughey Forrest, senior analyst at fund firm Fort Pitt Capital. “One would hope that there are more changes pending.”

BOSTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) – Cisco Systems Inc will ditch its Flip video camera division as it overhauls its troubled consumer business, following chief John Chambers’ recent admission that the company had lost its way.

The move comes less than a week after Chambers said that he had to make some “tough decisions” about cutting spending on some product areas.

The company plans to cut 550 jobs from its workforce of 73,000 and take a pre-tax charge of about $300 million for the overhaul. The charge is expected to be recognized in the third and fourth quarters of fiscal 2011.

Tuesday’s news appears to be Chambers’ first move toward reorganizing the company. Among the steps, Cisco plans to combine its lackluster Umi home teleconferencing service with its popular TelePresence business product. The company will also change the way it manufactures its Linksys line of networking equipment.

“Cisco has been sliding for a long time now. Hopefully they can right the ship,” said Fred Hickey, editor of the High-Tech Strategist newsletter.

He said that Cisco has been hit harder than other companies during the economic downturn because it has lost its focus on its business of selling networking equipment at a time when it faces increased competition from rivals including Hewlett-Packard Co, Juniper Networks, China’s Huawei and ZTE Corp.

Analysts were encouraged by Tuesday’s changes, adding that they hoped Cisco would divest more products outside of its business selling routers and switches to the technology and telecommunications industries.

NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Cisco Inc Chief Executive John Chambers, days after admitting that the company he has led for 16 years had lost its way, warned of competitive pressures, depressed public sector spending and “tough decisions” that lay ahead.

Chambers told analysts and investors at a Wells Fargo technology conference on Thursday that Cisco is a “company that has many strengths, and a company that has some weaknesses,” pointing to slow decision-making and weak execution.

As expected, the CEO — one of the industry’s longest-serving — promised to invest heavily in video products, such as the corporate videoconferencing Telepresence service, but otherwise kept his cards close to the vest.

His comments reflected those he made to employees earlier this week. In a remarkably candid memo, he admitted the one-time technology bellwether and Wall Street darling would need to take bold steps to restore its tarnished credibility.

In his presentation on Thursday, he told investors to prepare for crucial changes in the weeks and months ahead, but provided little detail.

“Are we going to make some tough decision and bold decisions about where we don’t spend? Absolutely,” said Chambers, among the tech world’s most respected corporate chieftains.

One area where Chambers made clear he wants to press ahead is video, a business where he said the company would “double down.” Chambers also said the routing business is “in very good shape” but said the company faces intense competition and hurdles in the other pillar of its core business, switching.